Steel/Mist/Blaze Sun

The Steel, the Mist, and the Blazing Sun (1980) is a post-apocalypse novel. Two hundred years previously, the USA and the Soviet Union had bombarded each other with nuclear weapons. In addition, the USA had created another weapon in orbit that is still active. Arakal is the elective king of the Wesdem O'Cracys (or at least the east coast of America). As mentioned by another reviewer, in a previous story -- published in Analog as "Ideology Counts" -- Arakal and his command group have repeatedly defeated the Russian Ground Forces in America. He has also bloodlessly annexed the adjacent Russian colony and thereby acquired all the armed vessels of the Russian High Seas fleet. In this novel, Arakal is now trying to reunify the various O'Cracy countries. He has already allied with the people of New Kebeck (Quebec). He would like to contact the west coast of America, but the lingering radioactivity is too high and the craters are too overlapping for passage. Therefore, he is planning to take back the European O'Cracys -- Old Brunswick (Britain) and Old Kebeck (France) -- from Russia; he is not yet aware of the former status of West Germany in the Old O'Cracys. Unfortunately for Arakal, Russia has built an espionage apparatus -- called "S" for Security -- that extends even to the former Russian colony in America. S has listening devices in many places and agents almost everywhere. When the colony was annexed, S began to listen to American conversations in that area. As Arakal and 36,000 of his troop head to Europe in the captured Russian ships, S-One -- the head of S -- learns of their plans almost as fast as they are made. When they reach France, a pretty nurse (provided by S) joins the Americans to vamp her way to Arakal. Then groups of partisans mysteriously begin to appear in the American camp. Meanwhile, American engineers are exploring an Old American facility that is well preserved, although personnel therein were killed by radiation during the nuclear holocaust. It is a treasure trove of old records. Moreover, it contains two protective containers and within each is a strange vessel that looks like a hovercraft. The novel rapidly coalesces into a conflict between Arakal and S-One. The Russians have overwhelming superiority in weapons and troops, but the Americans have questioning minds. Time and again, Arakal does not make an expected decision, but instead takes another path. Although the author does not write blood and gut stories, this novel does have moments of violent action. Nonetheless, the story focuses on the impressions of the protagonist rather than the violence per se. It definitely puts the reader in the character's mind during such moments. Although this novel is outdated, it presents some interesting ideas. The equivalent of S may still come into existence, but as an American organization rather than Russian. Of course, any new publication of this work should include the missing prequel. Highly recommend

I first read this book shortly after it came out, and I liked it so much I've hung on to it ever since. It is pitched at a high-school comprehension level, but the ending is both philosophically and practically tidy - a way forward even for we who never suffered through the horrors of a nuclear war. But maybe we will have to rediscover an Edwardian political simplicity to find that path, as Arakal and his cabinet do in this book. Certainly the justification for the enforced stasis of the Soviets in this book is sound if only on an Earthly level.By the way, I never buy into those books that project so complete a breakdown after a nuclear war that books and libraries don't survive. I read the studies - while a complete war would kill billions, most of the deaths would be due to systems breakdowns and not fallout or nuclear winter. People might fall ill and starve, but things would survive better.